Retractable covers for overlying rear load carrying compartments or “beds” of pickup trucks are disclosed in a number of patents, and example being U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,735. One form taken by such covers utilizes a plurality of substantially identical, elongate, slat-like members or the equivalent which extend laterally between extruded guide rails of substantially identical and uniform cross-section that extend along upper regions of opposite sides of the bed of a pickup truck. The laterally extending slat-like members are flexibly joined to provide a lengthy cover that can be compactly retracted into a coil in much the same manner as the cover of a rolltop desk. A retractable cover which has gained wide acceptance is sold by Applied Products, Inc. of Grand Forks, N. Dak. 58201 under the trademark RETRAX. RETRAX brand retractable covers may be viewed at www.retrax.com.
To retain a RETRAX cover closed or in selected open positions, a lever latch has been used, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,373. The lever latch provides a cover-connectable housing on which a handle pivots toward and away from a closed position where the handle causes a flat head of a cap screw carried by the handle to be clamped against one of the two guide rails that extend along upper regions of opposite sides of the bed of a pickup truck. The lever latch has a depressable push button trigger for releasing the clamping action of the closed and latched handle, and makes double-duty use of a single torsion spring not only to bias the handle toward an open and unlatched position relative to the housing, but also to bias the push button trigger toward a normal and non-depressed position relative to the handle.
The cap screw of the lever latch that has its flat head clamped into engagement with a guide rail is threaded through a portion of the handle of the lever latch, and is securely held in place by a lock nut. To maintain proper operation of the lever latch assembly, frequent adjustment of the cap screw often is needed to correct for wear and to accommodate such variations as are encountered along the length of the extruded guide rail as it is jostled and bumped about during the wear and tear of a lengthy service life of the retractable cover. A two-handed, two-tool effort is required to adjust the combination of the cap screw and the locknut. As such, the process of frequently adjusting the cap screw of the lever latch is both tedious and time consuming.
Problems of a more serious character may arise when the variations encountered along the length of the guide rail require an adjustment of the cap screw which enables the lever latch assembly to properly grip the guide rail while positioned at one location therealong, but which renders the lever latch assembly incapable of properly gripping the guide rail when the lever latch is at other locations along the length of the guide rail. When this situation is encountered, the retractable cover is only capable of being held securely in some partially open or closed locations, but not when the retractable cover is moved to other partially open or closed locations—which is quite unacceptable. Customers expect the costly retractable covers they have purchased to be capable of being retained and locked anywhere that the customers have chosen to position their covers along the lengths of the guide rails that support opposite sides of the covers.
The disclosures of the patents identified above are incorporated herein by reference.